McMansion

English thumb|Suburban McMansion with mismatched windows and discordant architectural features. Etymology From en Mc mansion derogatory. First use appears c. 1985. Noun en informal derogatory chiefly US A large, imposing and ostentatious house that lacks architectural integrity. en starter castle en Benjamin Cheever Life in a Crater Will Do, For Now The New York Times 1998-08-27 https://www.nytimes.com/1998/08/27/garden/close-to-home-life-in-a-crater-will-do-for-now.html 0362-4331 Twenty mansions were planned for the development, each designed to look like the biggest house in town. The McMansion we thought of as ours had an enormous kitchen, more than two stories high. https://web.archive.org/web/20250712125128/https://www.nytimes.com/1998/08/27/garden/close-to-home-life-in-a-crater-will-do-for-now.html 12 July 2025 en https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-sep-19-hm-24186-story.html Getting Smart About Art of Living Small 1998-09-19 Los Angeles Times After decades of ever-rising square footage in the McMansions that dot the suburbs, the idea of downsizing is gaining champions. https://web.archive.org/web/20250810132359/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-sep-19-hm-24186-story.html 10 August 2025 en w:Rita Mae Brown The Hounds and the Fury 2006 9781585478378 Center Point Pub. 112 https://archive.org/details/houndsfury00brow/page/112/mode/1up They're ignorant of their social status. They think because they've built a McMansion on twenty acres, they're elite—if you can stand that word. en 2016 w:Melissa Broder So Sad Today Grand Central Such places exist, and they exist just north of the Golden Gate Bridge, through the rainbow tunnel, where McMansions meet divination on Highway 1, Marin County, California. en https://slate.com/human-interest/2020/02/ride-sharing-designated-driver-alcohol-effects-uber-lyft.html The Drunk Men I Drive Around Every Night 2020-02-27 Peter Jakubowicz Slate Magazine He got out and ambled noisily into his dark, cavernous house. After leaving him and others eerily like him off at their McMansions, I often worry about who else might be inside those houses. My kids would be terrified if I came home like that at 3 a.m. https://web.archive.org/web/20250918070657/https://slate.com/human-interest/2020/02/ride-sharing-designated-driver-alcohol-effects-uber-lyft.html 18 September 2025 en-US w:Ross Douthat Lifestyles of the Rich and Miserable The New York Times 2025-05-06 https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/06/opinion/rich-friends-neighbors-hamm.html 0362-4331 For all their millions, they still don’t seem financially or socially secure, and although the show deliberately showcases various luxury goods (high-end watches, Rolls-Royces, fancy Scotch), the overall ambience is extraordinarily bare of style and beauty, offering instead a world of blah décor, undistinguished fashions and cavernous homes that just look like overpriced McMansions. https://web.archive.org/web/20250905063325/https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/06/opinion/rich-friends-neighbors-hamm.html 5 September 2025 Related terms en McChurch Further reading Anagrams en acimmnnos scammonin